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			Friday, August 21, 2009 News Clipping Archives *Maryland / Regional* Hog farmers rue swine flu (Baltimore Sun) Schools to offer swine flu vaccines (Southern Maryland News) Maryland May Receive Swine Flu Vaccine Next Month (Washington Post) Group against government-run health care goes national (The Gazette) Premium costs make health care reform's 'public option' seem reasonable (Baltimore Sun) Red Cross plans blood collection events (Cumberland Times-News) *National / International* Government issues swine flu advice for colleges (Associated Press) Colleges Warned About Fall Flu Outbreaks on Campus (Washington Post) Study: Vaccinating school kids best to stop flu (Associated Press) Chile Finds H1N1 Swine Flu in Turkeys (Reuters) Is That Right? Rice Krispies Boost Immunity (Washington Post) UnitedHealth to cover H1N1 vaccine (Triangle Business Journal) WHO predicts 'explosion' of swine flu cases (Associated Press) WHO: Save Tamiflu for the young, old and pregnant (Associated Press) Factbox: Japan’s Plans to Tackle Spread of H1N1 Flu (Reuters) *Opinion* A Court Oversteps (Washington Post Editorial) Our Say: Furlough ruling won't help government workers (Annapolis Capital Editorial) Better alternative to nationalized health care (Cumberland Times-News Letter to the Editor) Vaccinations prevent, eradicate childhood disease (Cumberland Times-News Letter to the Editor) Which health care bill is actually being debated? (Cumberland Times-News Letter to the Editor) *Maryland / Regional* Hog farmers rue swine flu Name incites fears about virus, hurts pork industry By Stephanie Desmon Baltimore Sun Friday, August 21, 2009 Jennifer Debnam cringes every time she hears a television report or reads a newspaper article about the H1N1 flu pandemic and - inevitably - comes to the part where the disease is called "swine flu." Debnam raises 12,000 hogs a year on her family's Kent County farm and she, like others in the industry, is losing megabucks this year - which they attribute to the misperception that you can catch flu from eating pork chops or a plate of ribs. Exports (and prices) are down sharply as Russia and China have put major restrictions on American pork products after questioning the health of the nation's hog population, experts said. With the H1N1 virus back in the news - as the federal government develops a vaccine to protect against it; as kids return to school, where it is expected to spread quickly; as the traditional flu season nears - the pork industry is going on the offensive out of concern that it could keep taking hits every time someone calls the disease swine flu. "Pork is safe to eat," said Chris Chinn, a fifth-generation hog farmer in the northeastern corner of Missouri. "I keep contacting my local news stations. I send e-mails to the major networks. We can't get the people who don't have a direct link to agriculture to realize the harm that is having. They don't realize what impact that name has had." Swine flu is the name the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization gave the respiratory virus when it first emerged this spring. The new strain has some genetic markings derived from pigs, but it also has genetic fingerprints from humans and birds. While efforts have been made by health officials in recent months to make H1N1 the common nomenclature - precisely because of concerns of farmers - it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and just hasn't stuck. And its use has been confusing, leaving some wondering if there are two new flu strains to fear, H1N1 and swine flu. "To avoid confusion, we always try to call it H1N1, but in parentheses, swine flu, so people know what we're talking about," said David Paulson, a spokesman for Maryland's health department. "You've got to figure a lot of people already understand it as swine flu, so you have to use both." He doesn't want to disparage hogs, but he worries that otherwise, Marylanders would not get the important public health messages his department is sending out. "I do understand the pork producers' concerns, and H1N1 is accurate and appropriate, but not everyone still today understands we're talking about the same illness," Paulson said. The Baltimore Sun has used the two terms interchangeably in its coverage, a decision made because the virus is colloquially known by its porcine nickname. In other countries, some have referred to the virus as Mexican flu, because of where the outbreak began. The World Health Organization is now calling it the pandemic flu. Early on in the outbreak, the nation's agriculture secretary assured people that H1N1 is not a food-borne illness, saying there is no risk in eating American pork. Besides, the H1N1 virus has not been found in American hogs. For two years, with the recession stretching around the globe, the U.S. hog industry has been struggling. Last year, the major culprit was high feed and fuel prices. Farmers expected a rebound in time for this summer's grilling season, only to encounter more supply than demand when people started cutting back on pork, though no consumption data was available yesterday. Debnam said her family was selling hogs for about 60 cents a pound two years ago; the price last week was 37 cents a pound. This week, with swine flu back in the news, they're getting 33 cents a pound. Not all of that is because of the flu, she said. The economy is playing a role as well. "Consumers are worrying about whether they should eat pork, and the whole industry is suffering," said Lynne Hoot, executive director of the Maryland Pork Producers Council. In Maryland, there are fewer than a dozen farms that make their living off hog production. "If it was called avian flu, it would be affecting the poultry industry." Dr. Ronald L. Plain, a University of Missouri agricultural economist, said hog producers have lost half a billion dollars since April. Officials with the American Meat Institute, a trade group, and the president of the National Pork Producers Council said this week that losses are projected to exceed $1 billion by the end of the year. Plain said some governments used the swine flu scare as an excuse to limit American imports, which sent prices downward. "It's an easy problem to fix," Plain said. "Stop calling it the swine flu. Stop misleading and confusing people." Reporters who cover H1N1 got a blast e-mail this week from the meat institute, saying, "Earlier this year, media reports were alarmist and frequently used the inaccurate term 'swine flu' to describe this particular strain." The letter was something of a preventive strike, said meat institute spokeswoman Janet M. Riley, in hopes of squelching the use of the name. Hoot said she is in contact with pork producers from around the country and that some have written wish lists for their state governments to help them during this difficult time. "One is to have their governors come out and say, 'I'm having pork chops tonight,' just to allay fears," she said. Said Debnam, the Kent County hog farmer: "I hope we can get the message out that it's not a food-borne disease, because we want people to eat pork." Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun. Schools to offer swine flu vaccines Cases have turned up in St. Mary's By Jesse Yeatman Southern Maryland News (somdnews.com) Friday, August 21, 2009 Swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus, first turned up in April in Maryland, when health officials reported probable cases in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties. Since then there have been several reported cases in St. Mary's and throughout most of the state, health officials said. Health officials fear the virus could come back stronger in the fall and are working to have a vaccine ready by October. All of the public schools in St. Mary's plan to offer both seasonal flu vaccinations and H1N1 vaccinations to students. There have been six reported deaths in Maryland linked to that flu strain, and more are expected as the traditional flu season approaches, officials said. The swine flu has been particularly harmful to younger people, differing from the seasonal flu, which generally has a worst effect on the older population. For that reason, in part, health officials are pushing for more mass-vaccination efforts in schools, something St. Mary's has done successfully for several years. "The general flu [vaccine] that we do every year, we are going to do that again this year," said Patricia Wince, supervisor of health services for the school system. More than 3,500 students have been vaccinated each of the last three years in elementary schools. Those clinics will be expanded to include every public elementary, middle and high school in the county and are scheduled to start at the beginning of October and run Tuesdays and Thursdays. "We will be able to administer to everyone as well if the H1N1 [vaccine] is available," she said. That vaccine is not anticipated until mid- or late October. When it arrives, schools that have already given the seasonal flu vaccinations will schedule clinics to protect against the H1N1 virus. The H1N1 vaccine is being tested now, Wince said, including University of Maryland. This vaccination will require a booster shot that must be given three to four weeks after the initial dose. If there is ample supply of the H1N1 vaccine, everyone in the school system will have access to the vaccine for free. "That's still up in the air a little bit," Wince said last week of the amount of vaccine St. Mary's will receive. If supply is limited, students with chronic conditions and other risk factors will be vaccinated first. "So far, what we're hearing is we think there's going to be an ample supple" of the H1N1 vaccine, said Diana McKinney, communicable disease program manager for the St. Mary's County Health Department. "The CDC is going to pay close attention as to how the H1N1 vaccine is used at the beginning." The local health department is stocked with vaccines for the seasonal flu this year and there should be no shortage of that. "We have seasonal flu pretty much nailed down," she said. McKinney met with school nurses earlier this week to go over the latest plans. Parochial school students are invited to come to a nearby public school to receive the vaccinations free of charge, as has been the case in previous years. "We've been doing this for awhile now, so we have a great rapport with the school system and great support from the county commissioners," McKinney said. For the seasonal flu, the vaccination can come in the form of a shot or through a mist sprayed directly into a person's nose. "We give the children what's most medically appropriate," McKinney said. Forms will be sent home the second week of school announcing specific vaccination dates. Parents who want their children to receive the free vaccinations must fill out a consent form that includes medical history. Children with asthma or other chronic diseases could get the shot form of the vaccination; others would likely be eligible for the FluMist version, she said. "We are expecting the number [of student vaccinations] to double this year" once middle and high schools are added and because of the prevalence of the H1N1 flu, she said. McKinney said there have been several cases of H1N1 in St. Mary's, but that the mass testing that went on earlier this year is no longer needed now that it has been reported in every region of Maryland. New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focus on limiting the disruption of day-to-day school activities. In lieu of closing entire schools or school systems when a case is reported, parents are asked to keep sick children home from school until 24 hours after symptoms subside, McKinney said. Symptoms of influenza include fever, cough and sore throat as well as chills, headache, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea or shortness of breath. The CDC discontinued reporting of individual confirmed and probable cases of H1N1 infection on July 24 but will report the total number of hospitalizations and deaths weekly, and continue to use its traditional surveillance systems to track the progress of the outbreak. College students could file work online if buildings close due to a swine flu scare Some colleges and public schools throughout Maryland are developing plans to move assignments online if the swine flu forces them to close their doors during the new school year. Liz Medcalf, a spokeswoman for Frostburg State University, said Thursday the school developed contingency plans three years ago during the avian flu scare. Earlier this summer, officials of the University System of Maryland asked local colleges and universities to develop plans in the event of a swine flu outbreak, Medcalf said. In a July 13 letter, Stephen J. Simpson, Frostburg's provost and vice president for academic affairs, asked faculty to ready a plan "for possible use of online or mailed materials to allow students to continue coursework during any potential period of closure." "Each campus has a plan that reflects the unique needs and resources of that particular campus," said Mike Lurie, a university system spokesman. "Offering courses online may be an option that some campuses are considering." Professors at Frostburg and the University of Maryland Baltimore County would post students' assignments on the Web-based Blackboard program, according to documents from the respective schools. In Monday's letter to faculty, UMBC's Elliott Hirshman, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said that some courses might be tough to move online. Therefore, closing the campus could require those classes to be canceled, he wrote. "While we fervently hope that the H1N1 virus will have minimal impact, we believe the current steps are prudent and appropriate," Hirshman wrote. Some of the state's public schools also have planned to move their coursework online if their buildings close. The state also has convened a committee of health and schools' officials to draft a list of recommendations on how schools should respond to swine flu-related closures. The recommendations are expected in September. http://www.somdnews.com/stories/08212009/entetop162116_32228.shtml Copyright 2009 Southern Maryland News. Maryland May Receive Swine Flu Vaccine Next Month Your Daily Download of the State's Top Political News and Analysis Washington Post - First Click -- Maryland Friday, August 21, 2009 David Paulson, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene says the state's expected to receive shipments by October, writes Julekha Dash in the Baltimore Business Journal. Doctors have been asked to register to have the vaccine shipped to them directly. The University of Maryland is helping conduct clinical trials on the vaccine and Maryland biotech company Medimmune will manufacture the vaccine for state residents - an unexpected windfall, writes Bloomberg, for the British company that purchased Medimmune. Copyright 2009 Washington Post. Group against government-run health care goes national 'We Surround Them - Frederick Maryland' attacks senator's stance By Sherry Greenfield The Gazette Friday, Aug. 21, 2009 Members of a Frederick County grassroots organization opposed to the federal government's plan to takeover health care are hitting the national airwaves. Mark Kreslins, co-founder of "We Surround Them - Frederick Maryland," was featured on CNN Aug. 12, and Joshua Lyons, the group's other co-founder, appeared on the Fox channel's Fox & Friends on Sunday. Both men were featured on the national news programs, as a result of comments they made to U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) during a town hall meeting on health care reform at Hagerstown Community College Aug. 12. They both accused Cardin of violating the U.S. Constitution, specifically Article 1, Section 8, which dictates the powers of Congress. "It's excellent to know this message is reaching a national audience," Lyons said Monday. And their message - nowhere in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution does it state that government will provide health care to its citizens. "There are certain powers defined in the U.S. Constitution," Lyons said. "These things [health care] should be left to the states and the people. Individuals do not have a right to health care at another individual's expense. It's a wonderful idea as long as it is inside the boundaries of the Constitution." Kreslins agreed: "We don't see a constitutional basis for health care." The 18 specific powers provided to Congress include the power to declare war, raise an army and regulate commerce with foreign nations. Relaxing Monday at a Panera's restaurant in Frederick, Lyons and Kreslins, along with Jim Lehmann, a third member of We Surround Them, explained their opposition to plans by Congress and President Barack Obama to reform the nation's health care system, opposition that also extends to the government bailouts of the auto industry, banks and financial institutions that started with the Bush Administration in 2008. They believe the Founding Fathers are looking down with horror. "For me it has been building and building for years, but when the TARP program was passed last fall, I reached my personal breaking point," Lyons said. Lyons is referring to the "Troubled Assets Relief Program," known as TARP, created by the federal government to provide relief to financial institutions in response to the start of the economic crisis last year. "We couldn't bury our heads in the sand," Kreslins said. "They had no constitutional right to pass that legislation, yet they did it anyway. It's just not right to saddle future generations with a debt that they cannot pay. We are now pushing back." But not everyone agrees the issue is that simple. "There are of course two sides of every argument," said Janis Judson, a political science professor at Hood College in Frederick, in an e-mail. "Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution defines Commerce Clause, the General Welfare Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause, all of which could give the federal government the authority to bailout private enterprise. On the other hand, some would argue … that the bailouts, etc., violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment or for that matter the original meaning of the Commerce Clause. It is actually a political argument about economic issues and those against the bailouts and health care reform are trying to use the Constitution to justify their arguments." The Commerce Clause states that Congress only has the power to regulate trade, exporting and importing with foreign nations, the individual states and among Indian Tribes. There may be two sides of the argument, but one side is quickly growing in Frederick County. Since Kreslins and Lyons formed "We Surround Them - Frederick Maryland" last spring, the group has grown to 200 members, with more joining every day, Kreslins said. Lehmann, a banker from Ijamsville, said he was persuaded to join the group after he got a lesson on the U.S. Constitution. "What got me into the group was seeing what could happen when the balance of power becomes corrupt," he said. "The balance of power starts to erode away our freedoms." Lehmann said he would have preferred the government not bail out the banks and instead allow them to fail. "I would have been much happier if we [the banking industry] used the freedoms we have to start again," he said. Kreslins, who owns a small health care business and lives with his family in Monrovia, insists he is just an average citizen concerned with the direction the country is going. "The three [Kreslins, Lyons and Lehmann] are just average citizens, we are not paid politicians," he said. "We are all citizens and we all have jobs. We are just people getting empowered by the constitution." Lyons lives with his family in Adamstown and works in information security. The men, who say they do not belong to any political party, insist anyone can join the group regardless of party affiliation. "We [the group] are not affiliated with any party," Lyons said. "We have people from every party. At no time are we trying to tell people what to think. We're trying to get people to think. We will hold our elected officials accountable, regardless of party affiliation." The men insist they did not form the group as a result of Obama's presidency. "It has nothing to do with him," Kreslins said. "Our battle really isn't with the executive branch [presidency]. Our battle is with the legislative [Congress] branch. That's where all the power is. We get tagged an anti-Obama group. We're not." Lyons agreed. "His name rarely comes up," he said. E-mail Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@gazette.net. Next meeting -7:30 p.m. Friday -Hampton Inn, Opossumtown Pike in Frederick Take Back America Tea Party -3 p.m., Sept. 11 -Baker Park band shell -www.wesurround themfrederick.com Copyright © 2009 Post-Newsweek Media, Inc./Gazette.Net. Premium costs make health care reform's 'public option' seem reasonable By Jay Hancock Baltimore Sun Friday, August 21, 2009 Joining employers across Maryland who are feeling another year of health-insurance pain, Groove Commerce will see its medical premiums rise 20 percent on Sept. 1. The 10-person online marketing firm is less than three years old. CEO Ethan Giffin is trying to build the business in the worst recession in decades. A key cost that goes up 13 times the rate of core inflation isn't exactly helping. "I want to operate a company that provides for its employees and has great benefits and makes people feel welcome and a part of something," Giffin says. "What if it goes up another 20 percent next year? I have to start looking at alternatives and see how that fits." There, in a nutshell, is the toughest part of the health care problem - wacko, out-of-control expenses. Legislation in Washington would address the other part - millions of uninsured people - with taxpayer-subsidized coverage. Too bad it looks like Democrats are bailing on another feature that might help solve the first problem - keeping costs down with the so-called "public option" that would inject health-insurance competition into a market that badly lacks it. What backers of "free-market" health coverage don't tell you is that there really isn't much of a market. A few huge insurers dominate most states, according to a recent report by Health Care for America Now, a pro-reform group. Employers and other buyers have hardly any choice. Look at Maryland. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield owns half the business, and UnitedHealth Group has another 20 percent, according to a 2007 study by the American Medical Association. It's worse in metro Baltimore, where CareFirst and UnitedHealth control nearly 80 percent of the trade. That's not a market. That's oligopoly - market failure. Antitrust regulators start getting worried when one company starts controlling even 40 percent of an industry. A public health care option would provide another piece of what the market has withheld: competition. In addition to requiring almost everybody to obtain coverage, penalizing employers not offering coverage and subsidizing premiums for low-income folks, many Democrats favor creation of a new, government plan to keep corporate insurers "honest." The public plan would be an alternative insurance choice as well as a formidable buyer of health services that could bargain with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to lower costs. It wouldn't be perfect, and there are risks. Wouldn't employers just dump their coverage, pay the government penalty and let workers use the public option? Would a public plan become overburdened with sicker-than-average folks? Maybe. But could things possibly be worse than what we have now? Across Maryland, employers are again seeing double-digit medical insurance increases. "Some people say 10 percent is not that bad," said David Noel, senior benefits consultant with Group Insurance Solutions in Sparks. "Well, 10 percent is that bad. You're outpacing inflation. You're outpacing employees' gains in wages. And it's compounded over the years. Somewhere, somebody is going to hit their ceiling." And many companies are doing much worse than 10 percent. An insurer just asked one small-employer client of Noel's to pay 47 percent more. The lowest increase I have heard this year for employers of any size is 8 percent. "When I came into the business, there were probably at least 10 or 12 insurance companies selling health insurance to small businesses in Maryland," says Stephen Shaff, executive vice president for Employers Plus, a Baltimore-based benefits administrator. That was in the 1980s. Now there are maybe half as many. Shaff and other middlemen partly blame Maryland regulation, which in the mid-1990s limited how much insurers could raise or lower premiums based on the health of small-group members. That made the market less attractive. But whatever the reason, there isn't enough health-insurance choice. CareFirst blames continuing premium increases on rising health costs, but that's begging the question. With little competition, carriers have no incentive to drive down expenses. They just pass them on to customers. Shaff and others I talked to for this column opposed a public option, arguing that a new government insurer might be a Trojan horse for getting rid of private insurers altogether. But how else will we start to control medical costs? A modest measure to pay for counseling so families could choose to avoid expensive, heroic and dubiously effective end-of-life treatment got turned into a call for mercy killings by reform opponents. That won't be in the bill. Republicans oppose "comparative effectiveness" studies that would reduce costs by identifying treatments that cost too much for what they deliver. Democrats oppose tort reform, which might keep lawsuits from driving up the cost of care. Now they seem to be backing away from the public option. So we may get health "reform" that gives the insurance companies we know and hate millions of new customers, fabulous taxpayer subsidies and few cost controls. That's a recipe for national bankruptcy. If we want to expand access to health care, making it unaffordable for everybody, including the country, may not be the way to go. Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun. Red Cross plans blood collection events Cumberland Times-News Friday, August 21, 2009 CUMBERLAND - The Western Potomac Chapter of the American Red Cross has two events scheduled to help boost blood collections during the summer vacation season. This month’s blood donations are more than a day and half behind target, with low donor turnout of increasing concern to officials of the American Red Cross Blood Services, Greater Alleghenies Region. On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Chapter House at 400 Cumberland St., will hold a block party with food, games, music, activities and back-to-school giveaways. A Community That Cares blood drive is scheduled Monday from 1 to 7 p.m. at American Legion Post 13, 205 Harrison St. Blood donors will be treated to brownies from Roy Rogers of Cumberland and hamburgers, hot dogs and soup by the Legion, ladies auxiliary and Sons of American Legion. Kevin Beeman will provide entertainment on the deck. “Our collections are more than 1,600 donations below where we needed them to be for this month,” said John Hagins, Greater Alleghenies Region CEO. With the Labor Day weekend approaching, Hagins said increased donor turn-out is needed to rebuild blood supplies that are critically low. Supplies of O negative, A negative, B negative and B positive blood are all at emergency levels. Donations of all blood types are needed daily. To be eligible to donate blood, individuals must be at least 17 years old, weigh 110 pounds and be in generally good health. In Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, 16-year-olds may donate blood with parental permission. Donation appointments may be scheduled at many Red Cross blood drives. Log on to www.redcrosslife.org or call (800) 448-3543. Other upcoming blood drives include: • Today - Luke Community Building, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Monday - Chapter House, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc. *National / International* Government issues swine flu advice for colleges By Libby Quaid and Justin Pope Associated Press Friday, August 21, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is urging colleges to prepare for swine flu this fall and has issued new guidance for keeping students living in dorms from making each other sick. Officials say students with flu symptoms should avoid other people until 24 hours after a fever is gone. For students with private dorm rooms, that could mean staying in their rooms and finding a "flu buddy" to help deliver meals and notes from class. For someone with a roommate, it could mean moving to some kind of temporary housing for sick students. And, officials say, if sick students can't avoid close contact with other people, they need to wear surgical masks. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Colleges Warned About Fall Flu Outbreaks on Campus By Daniel de Vise Washington Post Thursday, August 20, 2009 Federal officials said Thursday that colleges should consider suspending classes this fall if the H1N1 flu virus begins to cause severe illness in a significantly larger share of students than last spring. A guidance document released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stresses "self-isolation" of sick students and employees until a full day after fever subsides. Officials urged schools to suspend any rules -- such as penalties for late papers or missed classes, or a required doctor's note -- that might prompt ill individuals to venture out. "We're hoping we're on track to be out ahead of this virus," said Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, in an afternoon conference call with reporters. Officials said a flu vaccine should be available by mid-October. Health officials said students can do their part by washing their hands and covering coughs, of course, and also by wiping down keyboards, doorknobs, remote-control devices and other oft-touched items, while colleges should redouble efforts to disinfect elevator buttons and faucet handles. Schools in the Washington area have already started setting up hand-sanitizer stations and hanging posters teaching flu hygiene. Officials at several schools said they will instruct students to stay in their dorm rooms if they fall ill and to contact the school health office by telephone rather than in person. The guidance document suggests that ill students should return home if their families live near campus -- and get there by taxi or private car, not bus or train. Those who cannot easily leave campus should stay in their room and pick a "flu buddy," to deliver food and supplies. Schools should consider temporary housing for students who lack private rooms. Local colleges have struggled with the pivotal question of whether, and when, they might have to suspend operations because of flu. The CDC recommends that class suspension "might be needed when [colleges] cannot maintain normal functioning." The agency says it may recommend class suspension "if the flu starts to cause severe disease in a significantly larger proportion of those affected than occurred during the spring/summer 2009 outbreak." Copyright 2009 Washington Post. Study: Vaccinating school kids best to stop flu By Lauran Neergaard Associated Press Friday, August 21, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) - New research says the best way to protect society's most vulnerable from the flu: Vaccinate school-age children and their parents. Kids already top the government's priority list for swine-flu shots this year because that new influenza strain targets the young. That's unusual, as flu usually is most dangerous to older adults. But Thursday's study, in the journal Science, says vaccinating students should be a priority every year _ because schoolchildren are influenza's prime spreaders and their parents then are the virus' bridge to the rest of the community. The idea: Inoculating spreaders could create something of a cocoon around the people most at risk of flu-caused death. Clemson University mathematical biologist Jan Medlock modeled what would happen if a virus like the ones that caused the 1918 and 1957 pandemics struck today. He tested multiple vaccination strategies against viruses of varying virulence to see which would give the best outcome for the least vaccine. In typical winters, the U.S. has 85 million to 100 million doses of flu vaccine. If at least 40 million doses are available, then vaccinating children ages 5 to 19 and adults in their 30s _ their parents' average age _ gives society the most protection, Medlock and co-author Alison Galvani of Yale University reported. In just one example, using a hypothetical flu strain as deadly as the notorious 1918 virus, the model predicted that deaths could be cut by more than half if just those ages are vaccinated, compared with vaccinating only the more usual targets _ people over 50 and under 5. Flu specialists increasing are focusing on children. The research is "very much in line with the evidence" that schoolkids in crowded classrooms act as flu factories, said epidemiologist John Brownstein, of Harvard and the Children's Hospital of Boston. Brownstein has tracked Boston-area influenza cases and found that neighborhoods with the most kids are where flu strikes first and worst: Every 1 percent increase in the child population brings a 4 percent increase in adult emergency-room visits. And just last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started recommended routine flu vaccination for children of all ages. While shots had long been recommended for babies and preschoolers who are at higher risk for flu complications, healthy school-age children typically spend an achy, sneezy week and bounce back. The change came as scientists began realizing flu vaccine doesn't work as well in people over 65 _ who account for most of the 36,000 flu-caused deaths each winter _ as it does in the young. While flu vaccine protects 75 percent to 90 percent of young healthy people, some research suggests the protection may plummet to 30 percent among their grandparents. But excluding other ages from vaccination, like in Medlock's model, would be "obviously a very difficult decision" rather than vaccinating schoolchildren in addition to the usual high-risk groups, Brownstein said. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Chile Finds H1N1 Swine Flu in Turkeys By Antonio de la Jara Reuters Friday, August 21, 2009 SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile detected the H1N1 swine flu virus in turkeys, authorities said, the first time the virus has been found outside humans and pigs, but said there was no indication the disease had spread to other parts of Chile. The country's farming and livestock agency SAG said on Thursday the flu outbreak had been controlled at the two farms 75 miles west of the capital Santiago and notified the World Organization for Animal Health. "We call on the public to consume turkey products with confidence," a SAG statement said. It added that laboratory results ruled out the presence of H5N1 or bird flu virus. The Geneva-based World Health Organization declared H1N1 a full pandemic in June and the virus has now spread to some 180 countries, causing at least 1,462 laboratory-confirmed deaths. The WHO says the pandemic is unstoppable. The H1N1 swine flu virus was first seen in March in Mexico and California. Experts say at least 1 million people have been infected in the United States alone. Genetic tests show the virus appears to have originated in pigs but it is now spreading from human to human. In Chile, the H1N1 flu virus has killed 128 people and infected 12,175 during the Southern Hemisphere's winter. Chilean authorities said the farms near the port city of Valparaiso were placed under quarantine on August 13 as a precaution after turkey producers reported anomalies in the output of eggs. Later laboratory results confirmed the H1N1 virus infections. Authorities did not say how many animals were infected but claimed there was no evidence the virus had spread to other parts of the country. The head of the WHO, Margaret Chan, said this week that the world must remain on guard against the H1N1 flu, which has been mild so far but could become more serious as the northern hemisphere heads into winter. Early reports of the "swine flu" prompted many countries to ban pork meat and products imports from North America. Most countries later lifted the bans after world animal health authorities said there was no evidence that animals played a role in the spread of the virus. Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; writing by Alonso Soto; editing by Bill Trott Copyright 2009 Reuters. Is That Right? Rice Krispies Boost Immunity By Jennifer LaRue Huget Washington Post Friday, August 21, 2009 They snap. They crackle. They pop. But do they support immunity? Kellogg's has reformulated its Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies cereals, fortifying them with vitamins A, C, and E and a bunch of B vitamins. The boxes and ads now tout that "each and every box" of Krispies has ingredients that "help support your child's immunity." It's a potent message in these days of swine flu fear. But can eating a bowl of Rice Krispies really help keep you from getting sick? Some of the added nutrients are believed to help strengthen your immune system, but it's not clear whether they work as well when isolated from the whole foods that naturally contain them, as they are here, as when you get them from, say, an apple or an orange. In any case, they haven't added all that much: the Rice Krispies nutrition facts panel shows that the cereal provides 50 percent of the daily value for iron but only 25 percent to 30 percent of most of the other nutrients listed. Oddly, there's hardly any fiber in a serving. And a quick glance at the ingredient list isn't encouraging: The first ingredients are rice, sugar, salt, malt flavoring and high fructose corn syrup. Those are not the first ingredients to pop to mind when I think of boosting my immunity. At least there's no nonsense here about "as part of a complete breakfast," which cereal companies have long used to mask the fact that their products alone provide little nutrition; pair 'em with a banana and a glass of milk to get some real goodness. But it does seem strange to see in the ads that kids are having just cereal for breakfast; you'd think they'd stick a few strawberries on a plate for good measure. It's interesting to see that Kellogg's promotes Cocoa Krispies not as a breakfast item but as an after-school snack. But check the ingredients and you might not want to serve them even then: In addition to the sugar, salt and HFCS heading the Rice Krispies ingredient list, the Cocoa variety sports partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, a source of artery-clogging trans fats. As has been noted elsewhere, Rice Krispies aren't the worst cereal in the world. They're pretty low-calorie and less sugary than most. But to suggest to parents that feeding them to kids will help protect the little ones against disease -- and that's what they mean when they talk about "boosting immunity" -- seems absurd. Copyright 2009 Washington Post. UnitedHealth to cover H1N1 vaccine Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal By Jennifer Niemela Triangle Business Journal Friday, August 21, 2009 UnitedHealth Group announced Thursday it will cover the costs of H1N1 vaccines for customers, whether or not their policies normally cover immunizations. Minnesota-based UnitedHealth (NYSE: UHC), parent company of UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, said it will follow guidelines by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for administering the vaccine. Right now, the CDC recommends the vaccine be given to pregnant women, caregivers for children younger than six months old, health care and emergency medical services personnel, children and young adults from six months to 24 years of age, and people ages 25 to 64 with health conditions that increase their risk of flu-related complications. “In light of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance, we felt it was important to remove barriers to ensuring the widest possible administration of the vaccine,” said Reed Tuckson, chief of medical affairs for UnitedHealth Group. Copyright 2009 Triangle Business Journal. WHO predicts 'explosion' of swine flu cases By Gillian Wong Associated Press Friday, August 21, 2009 BEIJING -- The global spread of swine flu will endanger more lives as it speeds up in the coming months and governments must boost preparations for a swift response to a coming "explosion" of cases, the World Health Organization said Friday. Many countries could see swine flu cases double every three to four days for several months until peak transmission is reached, once cold weather returns to the northern hemisphere, said WHO's Western Pacific director, Shin Young-soo. "At a certain point, there will seem to be an explosion in case numbers," Shin told a symposium of health officials and experts in Beijing. "It is certain there will be more cases and more deaths." The WHO says the swine flu virus - also known as H1N1 - has killed almost 1,800 people worldwide, and has declared a pandemic. International attention has focused on how the pandemic is progressing in southern hemisphere countries such as Australia where winter - and the flu season - has started. But it is in developing countries that the accelerated spread of swine flu poses the greatest threat as it places underequipped and underfunded health systems under severe strain, Shin said. WHO earlier estimated that as many as 2 billion people could become infected over the next two years - nearly one-third of the world's population. Others said Shin's cautionary comments were needed but that they were optimistic the spread would not be that serious. Ann Moen, an influenza expert with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that if current trends continue it is possible that the swine flu pandemic will not be worse than a severe flu season. "I think the world was preparing for an H5N1 (bird flu) pandemic and we didn't get that. So maybe this is our supreme tabletop exercise, a global sort of practice for something bigger," Moen told The Associated Press. Health officials and drug makers are considering how to speed up production of a vaccine before the northern hemisphere enters its flu season in coming months. Estimates for when a vaccine will be available range from September to December. Delegates from Bangladesh and Myanmar appealed for help in procuring vaccines or making them more affordable for poorer countries, saying they were left vulnerable while rich nations pre-ordered most of the available stock. "Developing countries like us, we have to fight this war without vaccines," said Mya Oo, deputy health minister of Myanmar. He urged pharmaceutical companies to consider selling the vaccines to developing countries at just above cost. WHO's flu chief, Keiji Fukuda, said the agency was working hard on the issue, and noted that two drugmakers had pledged to donate 150 million doses of vaccine to poorer countries by the end of October. He said more research was needed to determine how vaccines will be priced. "Among the many pandemic response issues, this is probably the most critical issue: how we mobilize the vaccines, how we get them to developing countries," Fukuda said. WHO has stressed that most cases of swine flu are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities, especially in poorer countries. Shin said governments must quickly educate the public, prepare their health systems to care for severe cases and protect those deemed more vulnerable to prevent unnecessary deaths. "We only have a short time period to reach the state of preparedness deemed necessary," Shin said. "Communities must be aware before a pandemic strikes as to what they can do to reduce the spread of the virus, and how to obtain early treatment of severe cases." Pregnant women face a higher risk of complications, and the virus also has more severe effects on people with underlying medical conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and diabetes, WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a video address. The last pandemic - the Hong Kong flu of 1968 - killed about 1 million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year. Swine flu is also continuing to spread during summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. WHO: Save Tamiflu for the young, old and pregnant By Maria Cheng Associated Press Friday, August 21, 2009 LONDON (AP) - The World Health Organization said Friday that Tamiflu should only be given to particularly vulnerable people _ a warning to countries like Britain where the swine flu drug is being handed out freely. WHO previously said it was up to doctors to decide who should get Tamiflu. On Friday, the U.N. agency said healthy people who catch mild to moderate cases of swine flu don't need the drug, but the young, old, pregnant, and those with underlying health problems surely do. If countries use Tamiflu too liberally, that could lead to resistant viruses, leaving the world with few resources to fight swine flu. WHO said people thought to be at risk for complications from swine flu _ children less than 5 years old, pregnant women, people over age 65 and those with other health problems like heart disease, HIV or diabetes _ should definitely get the drug. The agency also recommended all patients, including children, who have severe cases of swine flu, with breathing difficulties, chest pain or severe weakness, should get Tamiflu immediately, perhaps in higher doses than now used. "The WHO guidance is quite different from what has been done in England," said Hugh Pennington, a flu expert at the University of Aberdeen. "England's approach is out of step with the rest of the world on this." In Britain, the government's response to the swine flu outbreak has come under fire for allowing Tamiflu to be handed out by call center workers who have as little as three hours of training. Since the British set up a national flu service in July to deal with the surge of swine flu cases, Tamiflu has been available to anyone suspected of having the disease. At its summer peak, British authorities guessed there were about 110,000 new cases of swine flu, also known as H1N1, every week. The number of new cases dropped last week to about 11,000, but the fall/winter flu season has not yet begun. Boasting that Britain had the world's largest supply of Tamiflu, enough to cover 80 percent of its nearly 61 million people, Health Minister Andy Burnham promised the drug would be available to anyone who needed it. Britons who call the national flu line can get Tamiflu without ever seeing a doctor _ it is given out by call center workers who have no medical training. The operators' training lasts from three hours to a day. There are no health workers present at the call centers. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales decided not to participate in the swine flu phone line. On its swine flu Web site, the Department of Health says "the government has decided to offer the antivirals Tamiflu or Relenza to everyone confirmed with swine flu." To stop people fraudulently getting Tamiflu, the web site says "the government is relying on the public to use the system responsibly." In its first two weeks of operation, the call center workers handed out more than 511,000 courses of Tamiflu. Some experts have criticized that approach, warning that blanketing the population with Tamiflu increases the chances of resistant strains emerging. Pennington called the strategy "a very big experiment" that could render Tamiflu useless. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says antivirals must be prescribed by a health care professional. Canada's Public Health Agency does not recommend Tamiflu for people with mild illness. Pennington said Britain's national flu line should be dismantled so that Tamiflu would only be used sparingly. "This approach increases the likelihood of a resistant strain and that is not a risk worth running," Pennington said. Officials have already found widespread drug resistance in seasonal strains of H1N1 flu and worry that might also crop up with swine flu. So far, only a handful of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu strains have been found. Charles Penn, a WHO antivirals expert, said it was up to countries to decide how they used their Tamiflu stocks. He said in most cases, the drug should be prescribed by a doctor or nurse, and that resistance could emerge if Tamiflu was overused. WHO said most patients infected with swine flu worldwide recover within a week without any medical treatment. Still, about 40 percent of the severe swine flu cases are occurring in previously healthy children and adults, usually under 50 years of age. WHO has estimated that as many as 2 billion people could become infected over the next two years with swine flu _ nearly one-third of the world's population. At a swine flu conference in Beijing, a top WHO official predicted there would be "an explosion" of cases in the future. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Factbox: Japan’s Plans to Tackle Spread of H1N1 Flu By Yoko Nishikawa Reuters Friday, August 21, 2009 (Reuters) - Japan said this week the new H1N1 influenza virus has reached epidemic proportions in the country, but it is still lagging in vaccine production. The new virus, which emerged in March, has been declared an international pandemic and the World Health Organization predicts a third of the global population will eventually become infected. Although most cases are mild to moderate, H1N1 appears to be about as deadly as the more common seasonal flu, which kills some 10,000 people a year in Japan and up to 500,000 globally. Following are key facts about the new flu in Japan, which could become one of the first challenges for the winners of an August 30 national election. SPREAD OF H1N1 FLU -- Japan had confirmed some 5,000 cases of the H1N1 flu as of late July, when it changed its method of tracking the outbreak. Three have died so far, with the first fatality confirmed last Saturday. -- The government now monitors group contagion and hospitalized cases. In the week of August 12-18, 86 patients were hospitalized because of the H1N1 flu, with more than 70 percent of them aged below 20. -- Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases said on Friday that the new flu has reached epidemic proportions in Japan after the number of flu patients reported by about 5,000 core medical institutions rose above 1.00 per facility, which is Japan's yardstick for the start of a flu epidemic. The benchmark often rises above 1.00 with seasonal flu. -- Japan last month confirmed its first case of a genetic mutation of the H1N1 flu virus that shows resistance to antiviral flu drug, Tamiflu, made by Switzerland's Roche AG. But the two main antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithkline's Relenza, have helped most patients. -- With the flu spreading at a faster rate than expected in the summer, Japan wants to delay the spread before the autumn weather sets in, worsening the situation. But it has warned that the new flu could spread more quickly once students return to school after summer holidays in September. VACCINE -- Japan wants to be ready to provide enough H1N1 flu vaccine to treat 53 million people, nearly half the country's population. But Japanese makers, which are allocating some resources away from the production of vaccines for seasonal flu, are only expected to be able to produce enough vaccine to treat 13-17 million people, far fewer than they had originally targeted. The government is considering importing vaccine to fill the gap, although some analysts said Japan should also provide vaccine to developing countries to help the poor with the disease. -- The H1N1 flu vaccine is expected to be ready for mass vaccinations around the end of October, although the government has not yet prioritized who will be vaccinated first. A panel of experts is meeting this month to discuss this and other issues such as possible side effects of the vaccine. The government will make a final decision taking into account the panel's recommendations. -- There are four makers that produce both seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines for the Japanese market: Denka Seiken Co., Ltd, the Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases of Osaka University, Kaketsuken (The Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute) and the Kitasato Institute. OTHER STEPS -- The government has urged the public to wash their hands and gargle. It has also said that those with flu symptoms should wear masks and avoid going outside, but there are no plans to limit public gatherings. -- The government is stockpiling antiviral drugs and planning to distribute a list of serious cases of the disease to medical institutions. (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Joseph Radford) Copyright 2009 Reuters. *Opinion* A Court Oversteps By ruling Prince George's furloughs unconstitutional, a federal judge becomes the county's chief budget officer. Washington Post Editorial Friday, August 21, 2009 AFEDERAL judge in Maryland, Alexander Williams Jr., thinks that slashing funds for the community college in Prince George's County is a more "moderate" budget-cutting alternative than furloughs for county employees. Likewise, the judge thinks it better for Prince George's to forgo the purchase of land and equipment, or to raid county reserve funds -- a move that could imperil the county's bond rating, costing it millions of dollars in higher interest payments -- than to resort to furloughs. In short, U.S. District Judge Williams, who this week declared unconstitutional Prince George's furloughs last year for 5,900 public workers, is happy to substitute his judgment on fiscal and budgetary policy for that of the county's elected leaders, whose job description includes making these sorts of hard calls. This is judicial overreaching on an astonishing scale, and it may have dire consequences. The judge's ruling came in response to a lawsuit by unions representing police, firefighters and other public employees challenging the county's decision last fall to order 10 days of furloughs -- in effect, forced and unpaid vacations that cut pay by 3.85 percent. The move helped Prince George's close about a third of a $57 million budget shortfall and averted a far harsher recourse: layoffs. The furloughs were in line with actions taken by other state and local governments as well as private companies grappling with the recession. And it is worth noting that even after the furloughs, a typical county employee making $55,000 received a net pay increase last year of about 2.5 percent, or $1,375, thanks to cost-of-living and across-the-board merit increases. Judge Williams ruled that the county unconstitutionally broke its contract with the unions by resorting to furloughs. But as he acknowledged, state and local governments are not tightly bound by the constitutional ban on abridging contracts. In fact, since they are also legally obligated to safeguard the public welfare, they frequently modify union agreements in the face of economic downturns to preserve important governmental functions and services. To buttress his ruling, the judge relied heavily on a precedent involving the city of Baltimore, which, faced with tough economic times in the early 1990s, broke its contract with a teachers union. But in that case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled in Baltimore's favor, noting that localities must be accorded "some deference to legislative policy decisions to modify [the] contracts in the public interest." Despite that standard, Judge Williams determined that Baltimore's economic travails were more dire than those in Prince George's and that the county had better alternatives to furloughs. But whether a budgetary alternative -- such as slashing a community college's budget -- is better or worse is not properly a judge's decision unless a locality's policies are plainly irresponsible, which Prince George's were not. Although Judge Williams said he "will not instruct the county how to conduct its fiscal affairs," he did just that by sneering at what he called the county's "obscure" reluctance to use reserve funds to pay salaries -- a reluctance that virtually any public finance official would share. His ruling should be overturned by a higher court. If it is not, the consequence of his overstepping may be large-scale layoffs of public employees in Prince George's and elsewhere. Copyright 2009 Washington Post. Our Say: Furlough ruling won't help government workers Annapolis Capital Editorial Friday, August 21, 2009 A recent court ruling on the authority of a local government to impose unpaid furloughs has union leaders and government employees celebrating - although it may well be a Pyrrhic victory. Advertisement U.S. District Court Judge Alexander Williams Jr. ruled that Prince George's County violated its contract with its employees by telling 5,900 of them to take off for 10 unpaid days. The judge said the full salaries were guaranteed under the contract, the county had other means to reduce spending, and the action violated the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution. If the decision withstands appeal, Prince George's taxpayers would have to refund $17 million in back pay, and the county would have to forgo plans for another 10 days of furloughs in this fiscal year. Prince George's County's government can't afford this. Neither can Anne Arundel County (whose school system has planned furloughs) or the state government (where furloughs will be part of Gov. Martin O'Malley's next round of budget cuts). For that matter, Prince George's workers can't afford it. County officials said their only alternative is "massive layoffs." How does the union win if employees get 10 days of back pay while hundreds of rank-and-file members lose their jobs? Private businesses have been declaring furlough days to preserve jobs. Prince George's decided to take the same course - as did the Anne Arundel school system. If they cannot ask all employees to share the pain, then they will have to pass the full burden to some employees with low seniority. In such a case, it's obvious who loses - but who wins? Anne Arundel is among the jurisdictions that will examine the ruling to see how it might impact payroll decisions. Racism lives THERE SHOULD be no place on earth or in heaven for Calvin P. Lockner, the 28-year-old accused in the racially motivated beating of a 76-year-old African-American in Baltimore. The victim, a retired state employee, had been fishing and was loading his gear into his SUV at Fort Armistead Park, just across the Anne Arundel County line. According to police accounts, Lockner and two teenaged accomplices assaulted him with fists, feet and a baseball bat, sending him to the hospital with broken bones and missing teeth. They then allegedly hijacked his SUV. Lockner, a convicted sex offender, told police he doesn't like African-Americans, and he has the tattoos - including one of Hitler - to prove it. He is now facing numerous charges, including attempted first-degree murder and carjacking. He was running around loose this week because a judge suspended all but eight years of his 20-year sentence for rape. We trust that, if he's convicted this time, the judge won't be as lenient. This creep is an exception, but he should remind us that racism still exists in this country. His tattoo of Hitler is reportedly adorned with the words "He lives." Sadly, we suppose that's true. People like Lockner keep him alive. Copyright 2009 Annapolis Capital. Better alternative to nationalized health care Cumberland Times-News Letter to the Editor Friday, August 21, 2009 To the Editor: I have been hearing a lot about our health care system, and how it’s supposedly the “best in the world.” That’s usually coming from conservative radio, and those who listen to it. I received an itemized bill from the hospital I took my son to last winter when he was having breathing problems. On that statement was $140 for my son to breathe one vial of Albuterol from the hospital nebulizer. We have a nebulizer at home for him, and a package of 30 vials cost $19.99. I’m not sure where $140 comes from, nor do I think the hospital could explain it. Do I think my insurance provider is getting fleeced? Of course. Does the U.S. really have the best health care system in the world? Not quite. However, even worse is the idea to essentially nationalize health care like our friends up north. A lot has already been said about Canadians coming down here for surgeries, and proper care being denied to the elderly. Both sides can debate those issues all day. But there are things that can’t be disputed. The first is the fact that innovation and new technologies are all but stifled under nationalized health care. What is the motivation to invest large sums of money on groundbreaking medical research if there is no chance of ever seeing the return? This is why Canada didn’t get the CAT scan until the mid-1990s. Another unintended consequence is the federal government having to subsidize medical school as well. If your income potential is $50,000 a year, are you really going to spend $200,000 for schooling to become a doctor? Therefore, the government will have to fund universities to bring down the costs of getting a doctor’s degree. No one who supports government sponsored health care could give a straight answer on how to fix these problems. As opposed to having our bloated, inefficient government run our health care system, why not make health insurance from a private company mandatory instead? In return, insurance companies could offer a wide array of policies for every budget, just like auto insurance. You’ll get what you pay for, in terms of percentage covered. And those on cheaper policies may still stiff the hospital on the remainder of the bill. However, being stiffed 50 percent on a charge is better than being stiffed 100 percent. As a result, perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue could be saved. And if it’s true that lost revenue is causing a rise in health care costs, then this increase in profits would result in a drop in the cost of services. Insurance companies could then lower their premiums, and each American could get more coverage for their dollar. More coverage for each American means even less lost revenue to the healthcare industry. By making the only government involvement the passing of mandatory private insurance, not only does every American have some sort of coverage they can afford, but capitalism remains intact throughout the healthcare sector. This would never happen, because there are too many opportunistic Democrat congressmen jockeying to take credit for “saving” Americans from the “evil” healthcare industry. And the Republican party is too busy trying to bury our president prior to the next congressional election to care about the American people at all. It took 1,000 convoluted pages for the giant waste of space we call a Congress to explain a ridiculous idea for state run healthcare. I believe I’ve summed up a better, more feasible idea in one paragraph. Adam M. Robinette Herndon, Va. (formerly of LaVale) Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc. Vaccinations prevent, eradicate childhood disease Cumberland Times-News Letter to the Editor Friday, August 21, 2009 I am writing in response to a letter from John and Tonya Cozatt, in which they make the assertion that childhood vaccinations against illnesses are risky and a conspiracy by the state, doctors, and “Big Pharma” to make a profit (“Childhood immunizations may not be the ‘silver bullet,’ ” Aug. 16 Times-News). You claim that “children are becoming lab experiments in the name of profits.” You make the statement that the state is raking in money by mandating vaccinations. If that is the crux of your argument, where is your proof? You make a lot of claims, but you don’t cite any sources or proof that this is happening. It appears that you are instead using fearmongering to push your own holistic products. One of you signed your name with mention of your degree in Holistic Nutrition, and you have signs against vaccinations outside of your business that promotes holistic measures. If you’re going to make the claim that “Big Pharma” and the state are out there pushing their own agendas, it certainly sounds like you are too considering that is your business. You state that children should not have to participate in Hep. B vaccinations because they don’t participate in the activities that put someone at risk for the disease. But, someday, these kids will have sex, and some will participate in these risky behaviors, and I would think it would be beneficial to eliminate the risk of a child ever contracting it as an adult. Say, if it’s passed through sexual contact, and we vaccinate future generations against the disease early, the risk for contracting it in the future is eliminated before it has begun. If you backed up your arguments with actual fact and citations, I would give them more consideration. But, if the government was conspiring so much against us as parents and our children, why does my local pediatrician give me flyers before vaccinating my child with the listed benefits and risks, the frequency of side effects’ occurrence, and who to talk to with questions? Why does my pediatrician ask whether I have any concerns before they vaccinate if they were simply targeting my child for a few lousy bucks? Here are the facts that I do know: my son is protected from diseases that have ravaged other children’s bodies and that have killed children and adults in the past. I know several adults who have suffered terribly from diseases that are prevented or eradicated today. Try telling someone who suffered from polio that vaccines are a conspiracy. Try telling my former boss that the Gardasil vaccine wasn’t worth it after battling a preventable cancer that could have been avoided had she received a vaccine in her youth against the HPV virus. I agree that people need to be educated about the components of a vaccine. I highly recommend www.vaccinesafety.edu, a Web site from Johns Hopkins that strives to provide an objective, independent view on the vaccinations available. People do need educated on what happens to their children, but I will choose to receive my education from people with appropriate degrees and training, and who state facts instead of resorting to fearmongering. I trust the pediatricians in this community, and I back the use of vaccinations in order to eradicate and prevent diseases in the child that I love. The benefits greatly outweigh the risks, especially those risks that were never proven in the first place. Laura Shelton Ridgeley, W.Va. Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc. Which health care bill is actually being debated? Salisbury Daily Times Letter to the Editor Friday, August 21, 2009 I have a question to which I haven't been able to find an answer. Which health care takeover bill are we debating? To be clear, I'm against any government takeover of health care. Besides the obvious negatives associated with communization of a massive one-seventh of the U.S. economy, there is also the inherent rationing of services that plagues every single noncapitalist health care system in the world. Those are all obvious issues though. Currently there are several different bills floating around competing with each other to see which will gain more support. The president is now saying he wants a vote on this by the end of the year, but a single version of the competing bills doesn't even exist in final draft yet. Worse yet is the total about-face on the part of Democrats. Does anyone remember one of President Obama's first jobs was "community organizer?" Suddenly we are told anyone protesting against the government takeover of health care is being "organized." Evidently community organizing is something that is only acceptable if the president is not a registered Democrat. When we had a Republican president, Americans were taught that "dissent is the highest form of patriotism" and we were supposed to "question authority." Now that we have a Democrat president we're told to shut up and get out of the way. The big question is, will you remember these abuses when it comes time to vote? Christian Hudson Lewes Copyright 2009 Salisbury Daily Times. BACK TO TOP


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